


Here there be Demons

by KataraTakaran



Series: Here there be Demons [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante Lives, Found Family, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Lami lives, Medical practice and malpractice, Multi, Pseudoscience, Will of D headcannons : horns edition, baby heart pirates, here or in the notes, more tages to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:15:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29631714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KataraTakaran/pseuds/KataraTakaran
Summary: Corazon has gotten Law out; he's free, he's safe, and he's healing... but he's not the only one who needs to heal.Continuation of 'Demon Devil Destiny Death'
Relationships: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: Here there be Demons [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2148714
Comments: 13
Kudos: 31





	Here there be Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi😘😘

Rosinante looked worse for wear, and a little down. Law was situated in his lap, carefully cleaning a wound that had probably wanted stitches initially.

"Walk me through what happened," Dragon knew how debriefings worked, and so did Rosinante, but the head of the Revolutionary Army opted for a gentler tone. More relaxed. 

"Well," Rosinante took a deep draw of his cigarette. It calmed the shaking in his fingers.

The first day had gone smoothly. As planned. Better than expected. A round of drinks became three, over a rich, fishy stew.

"Truth or Dare;" sailors had a million games to play under the stars. He had only escaped night watch by the skin of his teeth, and a need to be awake when they sailed, so he was forced to play along.

"Truth," Rosi brought the bottle to his lips while he was jeered for not taking dare. But he knew better. Any teasing would be preferable to whatever dare they could conjure up.

"Uh- uh..." his challanger had clearly been prepared to dare. Risky move. "First Crush! Fuck- no- uh-"

"Not starting out easy on the new guy are we?" Rosi laughed. It was easy to be at ease, among sailors with the ocean as a backdrop. He'd missed it. 

"Should've asked him something better!" The sailor next to his challenger swung wide.

"Fuck I know I panicked-!" They were all going to have hangovers tomorrow morning.

"So first crush," he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Was kinda boring. I was a shy kid, I didn't do or say anything, just hid behind my brother. But-" he had to continue fast to avoid complaints, "when I was twelve there was this real pretty gal, few years above me.

"Playing this exact game with her, I took dare. She dared me to take a running jump off the side of the boat, and she'd give me a kiss once I was back aboard." He snorted at the memory. "I, uh, I got so excited I forgot about my devil fruit, and just gave it my all, right off the prow... of a Naval Galleon."

That elicited some whoops. Few sailors had missed how high those boats were, even before the sea-stone hulls had become commonplace.

"You survived a keelhauling‽"

"Not exactly," he chuckled. "When you've got a devil fruit you tend to sink right down to the bottom, like a rock. I got hit by the boat, but most of it missed me. Fortunately, Sen-sei did not miss me going overboard, and had me fished back out within a couple minutes."

"She at least kissed you?" Had he gotten his prize for the idiocy? Making it worth it?

"Oh no," he had not, "she was laughing way too hard." There had been no smooch to heal his wounds. Just scolding from his parental figure.

"Oof-" was the general consensus.

Which meant it was his turn. The bottle landed on a sailor that bravely took dare. He did not look so brave when the dare was issued. Showing up for muster naked took balls.

He'd missed this playful camaraderie. It had been too long; he hadn't found any of the sort on Doffy's crew. Falling asleep in a drunken pile, interlaced with his new brothers, he was finally home again.

He wasn't even hungover, so he got to witness the full hilarity of his dare. Turning the ship with easy grace, he was not alone in suppressing laughter as their streaking brother got walloped and chewed out by Rhubarb, before being kicked below deck to dress. 

"A Drunkard and an idiot," Rhubarb grumbled with hidden affection.

"Most would've backed out of a dare like that, claimed they had booze amnesia or something." Rosi defended the poor guy anyways. "He's got spine."

Rhubarb snorted, that was the exact sort of thing he'd guessed had happened. "So, Navigator, how long til we reach our island?"

"Should appear on the horizon in about an hour. We should make dock by midmorning."

"We're making good time. Excellent." Rhubarb beamed, and went to argue with the riggers about a knot.

True to Rosi's word, a small island appeared on the horizon just before the hour was up. Within another, the sweet smell of citrus had mixed with the ocean spray, as they located the docks and came about. Rosi was a touch far from the pier, minding his starboard stiffness, but the crew had his back. Ropes lassoed them in, bringing everything to an easy stop. Then came the anchor, the mooring knots, lowering the gangplank, and beginning their disembark.

Crates were brought up, then barrels. Coin would buy most of their trade, but some goods had been brought too. Northern clothes, warm things for the coming winter. It probably didn't get super cold here, by the fruit orchards that swayed across the island, but they were still useful to most.

"She's a lovely island to visit this time of year," his now-dressed brother commented. "All the trees are just dripping with fruit, instead of pollen and flowers. Makes the whole ocean smell nice."

"Smells nicer when you don't have pollen allergies." He cracked a grin.

"Flowers are stupid. Now I was thinkin," how dangerous, "there's a pub on this little rock, sells some real nice mikan-flavoured rums and wines. Local brews. If you cover for me, I bought some liquid gold last I was in the north, and I wanna trade it for the local specialties. Won't be hard, just gotta carry those crates up to the trading post for Rhu."

Rosi chuckled. "I am supposed to stay on the boat, just in case. Boss was pretty adamant about it."

"Boat'll be fine," he insisted. "Don't leave Rhu's sight, and he'll report back that you were a good boy, don't worry about it. I'll make it worth your while~ I know a few of the hot chicks on the isle, I could introduce you~"

It was a very tempting offer. "My boys are still working on calling me dad; I think introducing a new mom would be a touch fast."

"Well now, you don't have to be  That honourable about it!" He teased.

Anything he was about to say was overturned by Rhubarb.

"Stop yapping boys! Bring down those empties, and follow me!"

A half dozen crates and barrels had been left aboard. Rosi took the lion's share, and despite carrying them in a way that let him see the ground, he still tripped on nothing halfway down the gangplank.

"Sorry," he wheezed from the wreckage of at least one spare barrel.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," he pulled himself up to survey the damage. Only one barrel lost, with another now floating in the bay. Rhubarb offered a hand up automatically, but it wasn't needed. His lip was a busted. Not the end of the world. "Sorry, these fucking legs are too goddamn long."

"It happens," Rhubarb accepted his condition as okay.

Rosi dusted himself off, then touched his lip carefully. It stung, but didn't need stitches. Good. He turned to save the other barrel, slowly bobbing its way to sea, when he heard fast approaching footsteps. When he turned, wet barrel in hand, a little girl was beaming up at him. Her bright eyes drew a smile.

"Hi there," he palmed some of the blood away. "How can I help you, missy?"

"Bandaid?" She offered. She'd seen a fall and come running? How sweet.

"Oh, thank you," Rosi accepted the gift, to the amusement of his crew-mates. The one tiny plaster wasn't much, and certainly not made for something like a split lip, but it was the thought that counted.

The little girl beamed up at him, glad he felt better. "6 million beli, please!"

"P-pardon?" He was surprised for many reasons.

"600 million beli! For the first aid!" The others were outright laughing now. Ah, he'd been had by a cute harbour girl looking to make a quick buck. 

"Ah, well-" he considered quickly. "How about a 100, and these spare bandaids I have. In case you need to sell more." His second (third?) mistake was bringing his wallet out. The little brat snatched it with nary a thought.

Which brought the laughter to new heights as he had to tear off after a lightning quick child, who very clearly knew the island.

Was he abandoning his post? Yeah, but not a single person in port could blame his stupid ass, as he gave chase, cursing the wind blue. As only a seasoned sailor could.

He wouldn't hurt her, of course, but the threat was there all the same.

* * *

"You were robbed by a child," Law interrupted. 

"In my defence," Cora-san pinched his little, sassy cheek, "she was very small and very crafty, just like a little boy that stabbed me."

"You let your guard down around children; that is not a sin, despite it leaving you vulnerable." Dragon was relatively neutral on the matter. Men had their vices. 

It wasn't a secret; Rosinante had adopted four hard-done-by boys as easy as that. He'd thrown children from rooftops, just so they might rethink a life of piracy. He deeply regretted not saving the other two. He definitely had a bit of a weak spot. 

"In any case, continue. You followed the girl?"

"Yes, and she lead me right into trouble."


End file.
